Marble Rally 2019 - Race 1
This was the first race of the 2019 Marble Rally. It was held at Doornse Gat and was won by Crazy Cat's Eye. It was run in hot conditions (24˚ Celcius), which caused the sand to dry out quickly. This, in turn, caused the race to be very difficult, as seen with the many retirements throughout the race. Race At the start, El Capitan took the lead initially down the starting straight, but a split was located nearly immediately after, causing shake-ups in the order. As the field divided itself into the higher and lower lines, it was Superball who slotted into the lead ahead of Crazy Cat's Eye, El Capitan, Blizzard Blaster and H2 Blue. Superball was alone among the leaders in opting for the high line, with the second-highest running marble in that line being Pollo Loco, who was eighth overall. Nearly immediately, rookie Cool Moody and veteran Reflektor both crashed off the course within several seconds of each other. Superball lost out massively through the rest of the split, dropping to seventh. Not even thirty seconds in and already a third marble was out of the race as former champion Dragon's Egg stopped dead on his tracks due to "fatigue". Meanwhile, Crazy Cat's Eye managed to build a major lead over second-place Blizzard Blaster, followed by Quicksilver, Summer Sky, Pollo Loco and El Capitan. Through the esses, Summer Sky jumped into third ahead of Quicksilver, while Pollo Loco was successful in fending off a bold overtaking attempt from El Capitan. In a high bank, Quicksilver retook his podium position, while an extremely well-timed attack from Superball meant he advanced from seventh to fourth. The shuffle caused by Superball's lunge also allowed El Capitan to finally move past Pollo Loco for sixth. Superball briefly took third from Quicksilver, before the field bunched up in a tight corner. Blizzard Blaster took the lead, only to fall into fourth as the marbles bounced off a hard right-hander. Pollo Loco ended up getting back past El Capitan and also past Summer Sky, advancing him to fifth position. Crazy Cat's Eye slotted back into the lead after Blizzard Blaster's antics, with Superball in second and Quicksilver in third. Through a smaller set of esses, El Capitan continued to fade, dropping to the bottom of the top ten behind Marbly McMarbleface, Ghost Plasma and reigning champion Red Number 3. Blizzard Blaster was able to shoot up to second by the end of the esses, while Summer Sky and Marbly McMarbleface became the next marbles to drop behind the dueling champions in Ghost Plasma and Red Number 3. Somewhere at the back of the field, previous season's front-runners Phoenix and Black Knight got stuck on the course together, meaning one-quarter of the field was out of the race shortly after halfway. A bunch-up in front allowed El Capitan to move back into fifth, before falling behind Ghost Plasma again. Meanwhile, Cobra also crashed out to become the sixth retirement, while H2 Blue got stuck on the course after running in the top five at the very beginning. By this point, the top two in Crazy Cat's Eye and Blizzard Blaster had comfortably pulled away from the fights behind them and would remain in those positions until the end of the race. Quicksilver was able to fend off the attacks of Superball and also pulled away a bit in third place. Red Number 3 finally managed to move past Ghost Plasma into fifth place, and then started hounding his 2018 rival Superball for fourth as the race started to come to a close. Crazy Cat's Eye, Blizzard Blaster and Quicksilver were not threatened anymore as they rolled home in the podium positions. Superball managed to keep hold of fourth despite Red Number 3's attempts. Ghost Plasma faded drastically in the final stretch, dropping to eighth place, with Summer Sky and El Capitan overtaking him for sixth and seventh. Pollo Loco and Marbly McMarbleface rounded out the top ten. The tricky conditions on the course resulted in only thirteen marbles finishing, the new Sand Marble Rally record for fewest finishers. Even the Ghost Marble failed to complete the course. The final three finishers classifed in positions eleventh through thirteenth were Silver Bolt, Comet and Slimer. Classification * Note: ** P1–P10 is on the front row ** P11–P20 is on the second row Championship standings after the race Trivia * The race had a record number of only 13 finishers, the fewest ever. * The race was accidentally released before it was meant to. Category:Sand Marble Rally Category:Marble Rally 2019